Pimms O' christmas (Pimms No 3 Winter)

Member Name: laurajonesccu

Product:	Pimms No 3 Winter
Date:	27/10/09 (467 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: warming and festive

Disadvantages: none

Last Christmas I discovered the joys of winter Pimms (No 3) and just had to review it

It has to be said that I am a bit of a Pimms o'clock girl whatever the weather. I love Pimms in the summer; in fact summer isn't summer without a nice cool Pimms and lemonade with loads of strawberries, cucumber and mint. After I discovered Winter Pimms, Christmas is no longer Christmas without it.

The Bottle is very similar to Pimms No 1 (summer Pimms) and I have been known to knock up a whole jug of winter Pimms and lemonade in August by mistake. The distinctive Pimms label dominates the bottle in red and white, on the N0 3 bottle the other writing is picked out in gold and 'Winter' is clearly written. The liquid inside can be easily seen through the clear glass and is a rich orange - brown colour. A 70cl bottle of Winter Pimms will set you back about £15 from most good supermarkets or off licences.

Winter Pimms is different from summer Pimms in that it is brandy based rather than being Gin based. It is fairly clear once you have opened the bottle that this is not the same as Pimms No1. There is a lovely rich, spiced smell about this drink; it just screams Christmas and all of the things you associate with it, it almost smells warm before you've even heated it.

The bottle says that you can drink this warm or cold, but in my opinion you can't not have this hot! Just the smell of it will remind you of Christmas - a spicy / mince pie / all spice / fruit cake and Christmas pudding kind of smell. The recipe on the bottle recommends that you mix it 1 part Pimms to 3 parts clear apple juice and then add sliced apple and orange don't let it boil though or you will lose the alcohol!! This is the recipe that we follow and it is so tasty.

This drink is not as heavy feeing as mulled wine but gives you all of the warming benefits. In fact I'm going to serve it this year when we come back from bonfire night celebrations (in fact I may put some in a flask to take with us). That is when this drink is in its element, when you've been outside in the cold, your fingers are freezing and you want to be warmed from the inside out. Or when it's wet and windy and all you want to do it hibernate.

I love this drink and I think I will now always associate it with a traditional Christmas, I can't wait for those really cold evenings to draw in now so that I can put up the Christmas tree, crack open the bottle and enjoy.

Summary: its now part of what christmas is to me